##VIDEO ID:We_pULawmVw## all right the zoning board meeting is being held on November 6 2024 at 7:00 p.m. statement of adequate notice under Sunshine Law adequate notice in accordance with the open public meeting Act was provided on January 18th 20124 of this meeting's date time and location the agenda was mailed to the cranber press in Trenton Times posted on the township bulletin board mailed to those requesting personal notice and filed with the municipal clerk roll call Mr bonab balant advises he was not attending Mr Diamond here Mr Callen here Mr McGovern here Miss Parker here Mr Schwarz here Mr Kari advis us he was not attending Miss Gittens here and miss mik advis us she was not attending we do have a quarum chair great uh let's start by uh welcoming Ruth gens our newest member she's uh alternate two position here and uh glad you join us great uh we have one application today Justin hulick um oh the minutes yes I wasn't here last I I can't uh vote on this but we have minutes from uh October 9th uh do we have a motion to approve I'll make a motion to approve second anyone second all right roll call for the October 9th minutes Mr Kalen approved Mr McGovern yes and Mr Schwarz yes thank you motion passed all right so as I said we have one application Justin Huck 16 heightstown Cranbury Station Road uh it is a use variance and both variances for fence deck and pool so uh why don't we get started um you must be uh I just have to report to the board that you have jurisdiction to proceed because public notice was adequate for the application great thank you here yeah and uh she'll swear you in okay and um what I'm going to do is swear in any witnesses that are going to speak today as well as board professionals which we have our planner here so do you have any other Witnesses besides yourself no I actually just brought my uh my friend is a uh just someone to make me feel like you know I'm not alone it's not that's fine 10 verse one yeah exactly so I want to swear both you and the planner in so raise your right hand you swear that the testimony that you're about to give before this board is the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth so help you that I do I do okay great so uh why don't you tell us about the project yeah sure so um I don't think I need the microphone but no I'm I'm just do it very loud so um basically looking to do a uh fence and a uh 15x15 deck and an 18t above ground pool at my property um not sure you know how many people here have roots in Cranberry but just to kind of give perspective my family's been in Cranberry for over 150 years and they've been in the middle sex Mercer County area since uh 1790 uh my daughter is actually fifth generation at cranberry School my her great-grandmother went to school here when it was the school was here um the reason I bring all that up is uh if you guys know where I live most people in cranberry and I'm not saying this for a reaction don't consider where I live cranberry and that doesn't bother me but I have Roots here my family's been here it's a great school system um so the way I look at it is we want to make where we live the best possible right we already know what we're going up against we have the turnpike we have the warehouses so what can we do to make it you know best for for me and my family um obviously the first thing is that the zoning was changed I'm not sure exact year but I want to say probably within the last 10 or 15 years um maybe the you maybe the planner knows when it was changed to a industrial Zone I don't know but I know the house was there before was an industrial zone so the idea with the way my property lies into a point all the you know all the stuff going against me if you will you know I don't have control over that um I don't want to just ramble on but that's kind of what is the the starting point of the process I know you guys want to talk about setbacks and all that and impervious cover coverage I have information there as well so all right so um the reason uh this is a use variance is because the uh any changes to the residents are going to trigger that because it's a non-conforming use to start with correct correct so um essentially this is I think perhaps a Remnant property of you have these residential um properties that are here that are sort of kind of sandwiched between the turnpike and um cranberry Heights down Road and um they were at some point zoned um and they are residences and and they obviously have been residences I think um since before the zoning code went into effect um and so um the one thing to note is that there this this property is the minimum lot size in the II is um three acres and this lot and some of the I think joining lot are are like less than half an acre point4 yep so they're much um it would be difficult uh certainly for this homeowner or this land owner to develop the parcel in accordance with the zoning it would it would be impossible without accumulating other other H um other lots and and um you know it it I called it a Remnant lot meaning that it's a remnant of of an earlier time when there was a different plan for that portion of cranberry clearly um but it is also a sort of a difficult lot because it is sort of triangular um and there's not a lot of room for the property owner to accumulate other lots to make his lot conform ing um and there's not a lot of space for him to go um in either direction because because he's he's uh bounded by these roads so um because it's a residence and it is in the light industrial Zone um it's a non-conforming use and uh it's a pre-exist we'd call it a legally pre-existing non-conforming use and so he um he doesn't need a D1 use variance because the house has been there since before the zoning but he needs what is called a D2 variance which is guess a very different not a very different but it's it's a less owner standard than what you would for D1 so D1 you would have to say Okay the site is particularly suited for this use it's you know it it promotes the purposes of zoning and you would also have to uh address what they call you know the enhanced quality of proof the medich test which is you know why hasn't the the um Town zoned it for this use if that's not what they want here you know that that's a D1 D2 you don't have to pro pro uh you don't have to prove particular suitability you have to essentially just say you know this this use is here what are some special reasons um that might exist to allow for this alteration or in in a D2 technically it's called an expansion of a non-conforming use he's not he's expanding it to the extent that he's yeah he's adding a pool he's adding some fencing he's adding the deck um so that's considered an expansion but the special reasons would be does this application sort of promote the U purposes of zoning uh in the municipal land use law and so some of those purposes if people don't remember is you know the promotion of light air in open space um sort of their Aesthetics you know beautification that sort of improvements to properties are part of it um and then the other thing would be again the negative criteria which would be the same for any variance which is um you know does this is this going to substantially negatively in is there going to be a substantial adverse impact on the on the public good which would be the the neighborhood right and so you know if if if the proposal is that going to really you know harm the neighborhood to such an extent as to rise the level of substantial adverse impact and then the second half of that is you know what about why you know is this going to negatively impact the Zone plan what he's proposing here would that negatively impact the Zone plan uh and Zone plan just sort of just the Zoning for the site for the master plan what whatever um so I probably did more talking maybe I should finally ask the question which is would you agree with everything I've said I could have said it better myself well I'll just add to that um there are two ways to go with a D2 variance um you could also prove if you you can prove a hardship undo hardship uh with respect to the lot because of the fact that it's non-conforming previously existing non-conforming use so it's either it's either that or it could be both it could be found under both too did the um you know just to promote the special reasons under the land use law as well so he could prove it either way to the board and then in either way you have to find whether or not the negative criteria has been satisfied just as um was just explained by Liz so okay I have a quick question does the easement that the gas line easement he has through his property has no relation to the zone at all um it's some it's something that the board does not have to uh doesn't get involved with you know but he does have an easeman I think he probably should talk to it and talk to the board about it and um you know that is a would be um something that he would have to satisfy you know with the company that holds the easement and would' have to get permission but you couldn't deny it based on the fact that he doesn't you know one change no but he would have in order to do this he he would need to get a right not to interrupt but all of you guys have a copy of a letter from Colonial so it is uh it is approved as long as they're there when the digging starts um because when the colonal actually put it in for $100 that's how much they paid my great grandparents for it um it was a uh undefined easement so basically the suit then right so we could say it's 20 feet we could say it's 50 feet now where we're at the the local right away uh super supervisor you know was able to work with me and say that they're looking at basically 10t on either side which is no nothing um and barring of course them ever having to come on my property and dig which you know knocka would there's there's no harm either way but yeah no I I got all that signed and just for their board's record do you have the date of the letter of the uh with you so it's there's a in the I don't have the actual uh date but I want to say it was probably about two and a half weeks ago okay because I talked to him a couple months ago and I was going to we were waiting for to find out everything was approved and I said I want to say about two and a half weeks sometime in late October okay just for the record it's October 21st 2024 it's with the it's with the colonial pipeline letter that's in in the package Jared demia and uh another question I have um with we have the planners letter here yes and then there's also uh I see an email that came from the construction code official are you aware of that yes what it says um yeah I understand this is kind of step one right yeah no AB absolutely so I mean the company that I'm going to be working with is well aware they'll be helping me out with any actual permits in the future so the construction permits all that I just kind of have to get them to the point where they can do that on my behalf so if the board were to uh approve this a condition of approval would be that there has to be comp um you know construction permit of course yeah absolutely with this just have one additional question so you said your great-grandparents lived in the house do you know when they so they lived in Cranberry before the house was built in 1956 my great-grandfather's uncle I'm sorry brother so my great uncle actually built the house next door uh nine years before in 1947 and my great-grandfather used to drive for Chamberlain barklay about 100 years ago my road used to be called rd1 over 100 years ago and now it's heightstown cranber Station Road so I have um you know my my family goes way way way way way back no I just in the area this your family has owned this house since it was built since 1956 okay that that was my question and we bought it from my grandparents when my grandmother passed away gave it to my grandmother we paid my grandmother for the house about seven years ago not because we loved the location but because we wanted to you know like I said send my kids the cranberry and you know for what we for what we have here we would have trouble living in Trenton for the same you know same money great um sorry that so uh our our planner uh you asked some questions about the coverage and design right so there are some C bulk variances Associated um and I'm May punch a little bit to to Sharon but sometimes when you have a use variance often times there are C variances because the Zone requirements don't contemplate the use that you're here for so you know this the zoning regulations are for at least a three acre lot so you're already kind of um starting with a disadvantage um there are so so there are some variances with relating to um setbacks and you know front yard setbacks and and I guess from heightstown Cranberry Road and the Turnpike because they theoretically it's sort of a corner lot in a way because it has Frontage on multiple roads yeah um I think the one thing that you know there are a couple things that may be within the um control of the property owner to address um including like fence height um Landscaping of the fence um you know we had that um go ahead no I touch on the landscaping and I I mean this with all due respect but almost every single day we have drainage ditches in the front of my house technically my property line falls behind the drainage ditch but of course we take care of the drainage ditches right um every single day there's garbage in there from the warehouse the truckers and it's to the point where minimum once a week I find a urine bottle filled to the top from the truckers throwing it out the window now the reason I'm bringing that up is the mentions that hey if you're going to put a fence has to be 5T off the L and you have to basically make it look nice with Landscaping my argument against that would be I'm going to be peeling up urine bottles weekly so part of the reason I'm putting the fence up is to give us that privacy from that um so I wouldn't see a need for me to make the fence I mean the fence is going to be a nice looking fence but I don't see a need to make the front of the fence look nice to people that are littering in my yard so I mean they said all due respect but that's the way I'm viewing that okay and so then the other uh point though is is the height yes which is you know that that you're requesting eight feet for just the part in front of heightstown cranber Station Road which is allowed I was told by uh Andre it's just that the 50% solid is not allowed oh okay so the eight foot running parallel to Heights down cranberry Station Road is fine the rest of the fence parallel to the turnpike will be six foot which is also I from what I was told fine so I believe what I'm actually requesting is not the height of the fence it's actually the fact that it will be 100 % solid and not 50% solid which is what would be required in the light industrial Zone okay let me double check that I I think it could be that it's in the front yard that that that you can't have that high fence in the front yard gotta yeah I can look at the actual denial letter you have it in there he does mention in one of the points that the8 foot fence is allowed but just not the 100% um solid right and and and it is what I that it's 100% solid up to 8 feet is permitted but only behind the front building line gotta got that was the confusion I think that perhaps that's the that's the variance that they want would like to put it on um an eight foot high fence on the cranberry corre um height cranber Road Station Road and part of the reason for that outside of the fact that of course you went the privacy because six foot fence trucks can still see over when they drive by but also I believe there was another warehouse approv for across the street um I don't know when that'll be built but 8ot fence should give us you know full privacy from a warehouse across the street as well so that's the reason that the one behind the house is only six foot because the turnpike's above us I can't build a fence high enough to block them out so I'm not going to spend the extra it's $122,000 extra to go from six foot to 8 foot I'm not going to spend the money when it's not going to help me in the back so what's there now s barer nothing there's no sound barrier they deemed that the uh there has to be a certain amount of property on the road for them to spend the money so what you have is basically just a barrier about 4T High correct and then there's a fence now the fence technically was put in by the turnpike but they don't maintain it technically it's on my side of the prop it's on my property line it's just to separate that obviously the turnpike can't walk off under the turnpike and I can't walk onto the turnpike but yeah there's no sound [Music] barrier essentially defense will be cover obviously white so we're not seeing because I don't know if you can see here the turnpike also never comes to mow I actually had I had to get the health department involved and say that we have rats and the health department called the turnpike to get them to come out and mow once a year so it gets to the point of being so overgrown so my thought too of the fence is you cover that up makes it look nicer they're going to do their mowing once a year I won't see what's behind it not my business doesn't affect me so like I said basically making the best of a poor situation yeah neighbor so I do no one currently lives there unfortunately both of my neighbors passed away in the past year the owner um I forget his name but he doesn't live there he rented it out for the past 22 years so currently the house is vacant but it is owned so when when I had the letter sent that was never received back because like I said the owner I've never actually met the owner I just knew the the the resident for the 22 years they lived there before they passed away okay so so between you and that neighbor there's going to be a looks like a six foot fence correct yep so basically the six- foot fence will start uh Northbound right behind my house go all the way around where the turnpike fence is and then when it makes the cut that's where it'll begin eight feet because that's where you can see the turnpike bridge in the end of the road so to me if you're out in the yard looking straight ahead a big rig can't see over that portion of the fence to me that's where the Privacy would begin okay I don't know if you guys want me to talk about the impervious coverage or anything or uh yeah just okay it was brought up planner report so if you to the extent you can talk about it sure sure no I just wanted to mention that I know the the stand is less than 40% my house is about 1100 square ft so even if my driveway was the same that's 2200 a 15x 15 and an 18 foot above ground pole equals 475 so you're talking under 3,000 square feet which is roughly 20 something percent so I'm well within the 40% of the impervious coverage and again there's really no standard here for residential true because it's not permitted use anyway I feel like I would have to have a lot of pro a lot on my land to cover 40% yeah and then I I actually wanted to mention one thing I'm hoping that maybe um I'm sorry what was your name it's Liz Liz this Miss leany is that perhaps correct be respectful close enough one of the things that was mentioned was the sidey guard setback So currently on the Northbound side of my house it's about 22 feet off the property line but the actual pulling deck will be on the other side of house which will be more than 50 feet off both sides setbacks because I know it was mentioned in there to give testimony on that so it'll be about 65 to 70 feet off of the north side and approximately 300 feet off of the southbound side heading towards um the turn okay I could ask a question the fence along the uh the main road yes sir turnike is that just is that right on your property line so you talking about the current chain link uh no not not the turnpike one but the one up front the one yes so the one I'm proposing will be just off the property line so the drainage ditches if you were I believe with the township the easement right away is five feet if I'm correct so if you go five feet because actually the center line of the road used to be our property before the township came in so our current property line is about maybe six inches behind the ditch so Iris posing it another you know 6 Ines to a foot behind that so it would be a little off the property line so looks like but I want to get as close as possible to answer I put a foot but if I'm allowed I will go right on it the uh looks like there's a fire hydrant right off your drive there is that's about two feet off the road so technically that's about three feet off of my property line so the fence would be about four or five feet behind the fire Hydra so there would be no enclosure there and and no I guess as you come out of your driveway does that give you enough to look down the road yeah no absolutely so um I don't know if you have the one picture that kind of shows it from facing forward but see from yeah so I mean I have a pretty large truck so I can still almost see over the fence anyway but besides that if you pull up the where the property line is to the road is going to be almost six or seven feet so you wouldn't be pulling out into the road you could still see okay that's a good point though I never thought about that U I'm looking at your um that particular picture here so that was the original that wasn't the just so you know that's not the um actual survey that's the first I believe that's the one I did by hand it was told it's not acceptable well well but basically I guess the uh I'm not really concerned about the deck or the pool I mean yeah yeah that's that's just as far as I'm concerned just part of the house okay but the thing that does concern me you is your fencing go for it now looking at this picture yep I presume the red indicates the fence that you want to be 100% by 8 feet tall that is correct yes sir and in the and the everything in the black fencing here six foot is going to be six foot 100% uh correct yes sir now I was looking at I was looking at this picture here which showed your view looking towards the Turn Pipe so actually that's uh yes but that's actually at the other end of my road so that would be if you're coming under the turnpike bridge and you get to the corner point of my property the far south end and you're looking towards my house so that's where that is okay now my question basically is from the ground until the height of this that's probably 12 feet in the air 12 feet in the air so my so I looked at this thing and I said why are you putting your fence parallel to the turnpike I to me it blew my mind especially what' you say $122,000 oh no no it's 12,000 extra to go from 6 to8 feet if you don't mind I just want to show you I'm sorry no you the picture let's let's mark that as an exhibit because let's mark that as an exhibit and say what it is so let's we're calling it well I'm basically I'm referencing a couple of things here do you want them all you want this one here would you have A1 is the uh drawing like this one has this one has a number on it c249 2585 proposal contract by Carl spening you have it in your packet okay I just want to refer to what it is okay proposed uh say that again proposed and then this other one that I'm referring to that's actually picture the picture of you know looking the towards the turnpike wall yep and the reason you say it doesn't make sense why I'm going to put a fence up because if you take a look right here see all this that's the over Brown Shrubbery behind the fence i' be covering that up let me ask you question be looking at I'm just trying to be practical here if I had that thing there and I would say gee even though it's what's Turnpike planting I'm sorry it's it's a turn Turnpike planted this this the the so the the actual concrete part that's on the turnpike the fence itself is on the property no I'm talking I'm talking about is there is there a fence here yeah so that all that green behind it isn't my property that's behind the fence oh so so so I there's an existing fence there yeah it's hard to see yeah there maybe that picture you can see take a look there's a fence there yes sir CH so it's it's behind it you see all these Bush right here you can actually see the Pole right there okay it's hard to tell in that picture I assume that there looks like two levels of plantings here so I assume that that so that wasn't actually those are weeds they didn't plant anything the only thing they planted was you see that giant tree in the middle that's not a tree that took five years that's a weed I mean my initial concept was is if I had this thing and I didn't like the looks of it I would probably go out there with a trimmer and not spend whatever money they could me finish correct no absolutely I me I'd go ahead and I wouldn't care who owned it since they don't care I would just just trim it off make it decent looking like a nice looking fence and and not worry about spending the money to put up a fence back there now you're proposing to put up a six foot a 6 foot 100% Sol blockage fence yep I got a problem with that I honestly have a problem with that uh I don't like I don't like PVC fences I call them the California effect where people have a tendency to block in all their properties and I know that we've had situations on previous zoning boards where we had people wanted to put up lots of 8ot 100% blockage fences and we just didn't approve it we asked them to compromise so that part is six foot but to your point behind that all those weeds you say take care of myself I mean it's it should be their job but here's here's the issue there's a padlock on the fence there's no way for me to get to it but there's all garbage along there as well we actually did have rat problems in the past because when people throw garbage out of the turnpike it falls down into those weeds so the part of the into the fence is similar to the front when I look out my backyard right now I don't mind seeing the turnpike i' I've accepted that but what I don't like seeing is piles of Doritos bags and everything but what's going to happen is that if you have an eight foot fence in the front anybody on the road is never going to see what you're putting a six foot fence in the back that's for me well okay that's not for anybody but me so my real problem is what is shown in red I really have a problem with 100% 8 foot PVC fences I really do okay I mean uh I know that we went ahead and we had one person that we said to them we're not going to approve a 8 foot 100% we they we compromise them to a six foot now would a six foot fence be more reasonable for me honestly what it comes down to is I understand if you lived in town and people cared but where we live honestly it's people doing 90 in what's supposed to be 25 Zone the main purpose of the fence obviously yes of course I have two kids and two dogs right the purpose of the height specifically is the privacy because it also the higher the fence the more sound that gets off I don't know if you've ever been on my road but it's unbelievable when someone's going 80 with a loud Muffler blaring music the sound that Echoes I mean I've been on that road but I can't imagine growing fast on that road well I I invite you over one day you can sit up front and watch people so my point is the purpose of the fence to height also so number one a big won't see over an 8ot fence that'll come up here so there's privacy but number two the higher the fence the more sound that's kept out okay let me ask you this question how far off the edge of the road is this fence going to be six seven feet six seven feet you're not you're not concerned about a 8 foot 100% fence and wind conditions and wind blockage and the stress that's going to put on this fence nope I spoke to the fencing company Carl they've been around for many many many many years and this is a reinforced because it's 8 foot it's actually a specialty main fence they don't keep it in stock so it's reinforced uh every I believe 4 feet so it's reinforced a little bit different than normal standard six foot fence to to your point to prevent that because you're right the higher fence the more risk for damage so so basically six foot would afford you the privacy and safety because you have a of but the eight fin the 8 foot the isal two feet you you're saying you want for noise suppression so noise and and uh and uh privacy because we have hundreds if not thousands of big rigs that go down the road a day and a big rig is taller than six foot so I'm I'm just saying that to me the Privacy I'm not worried about the cars the trucks are also the ones that make a lot of noise which is fine I get it you know but they're Jake breaking this and that so that extra two feet does make a difference because it might be hard to believe but because the turnpike is raised above us it actually isn't nearly as loud as the road you would think the turnike would be louder but I'm going to tell you that I have a bigger issue with the heightstown cranberry Station Road than I do the Turn Pike well but you got that big noise barrier well no it's not a noise barrier it's only about this talk no I'm talking well you said that that that uh that fence here yeah so that's actually not a barrier though when a car drives by this is how high it is it's the angle we're shooting down because the turnpike's above us but when you drive on the turnpike if you got out we yeah I I just you know I just don't want the possib approval of your request to kind of set a precedent for people because we've had people w 8 foot fences in developed areas and we've turned them down correct and and I think in all due respect I mean that I think the difference is you're saying developed areas right I understand Main Street Shadow Oaks Theon you're in the boonies well it's not even just that it's the fact that I can tell you how many people live on my road my neighbor's next door are dead the one next door to that you know the place next to the police station yes they own that that's where they store all their wood so when I look out my side it's just stacks of wood out there we have two neighbors across the street that's it besides Bob Dylan all the way at the other Ren there's essentially four families living on the entire road so I understand of course it's all about value all that but my other reason to be honest with you is if we ever were to sell we know our issue right it's going to be hard to want to sell someone buy this property but what makes this property valuable in my opinion is that someone that couldn't afford the living cranberry which let's be honest is a lot of people hey I'm also making it more valuable for me to possibly resell but maybe have someone else one day come in because most people can't afford Med income and cranberries is about $215,000 right now most people can't afford an $800,000 home myself included so I'm trying to also raise what little property I have the value up and to me the eight foot fence actually in my case raises the value I agree with you I think in most cases would diminish other values because you know to your point I get it people are what's going on behind that why does it you know look like this I I see where you're coming from I just think M instances I hate to say it it's the exception to the rule right well as a matter of fact the more we talking about the case I'm not going to get in particulars but the location but the case was they wanted an 8 foot fence and we gave them the option if I remember right and some of the other members correctly we gave them a choice of a 4 foot 100% or a 6 foot 50% but I think I think that's what we offered them and they accept I think they accepted the 6 foot 50% but then it turns out they eventually sold the house and never install the fense that was the net result but fair enough I don't think I'm going to get to that point but yeah fair enough well I I I just wanted I just wanted to express my concerns I wanted to understand your detailed reasons and I try to get a better understanding because I live I've lived in Winwood 55 years sure there's no fences sure other than maybe what they put around some pools you know all that and therefore my next door neighbor wanted to put a fence up and I said Gee I mean you know it's it's not going to look really nice and thank God he didn't put it up but basically uh the only fences I've seen is maybe they got a little 25 foot fence blocking off a standby generator or you know some ignition depress but other than Jack we have fenes and I guess I got used to that I guess and my my my only rebuttal to you of course would just be in Windwood how many times people go 90 throw garbage on your yard are they I'm saying like in comparison I'm saying that you're living in an area where I wouldn't want a fence if I lived in your area you know what I mean I don't only reason I want a fence is for the reasons mentioned to be honest with you I would love to have 50 acres of wide open land to where I see nothing but open I don't like the idea of a fence myself to me it's just that if I'm gonna spend because this whole Project's going to cost me about $60,000 between paying for a survey paying for the permits here fence debt I want to do it right I could save 12 Grand I told you by not doing 8 foot up front but I believe I'll regret that as far as the reasons I mentioned but I stand corrected my next door neighbor did put a fence up sorry around her entire backyard fully within thing it's I think six feet but it's 5% it's one of those aluminum simulator iron fences so you can see it the one thing to note also is the way the ordinance is written it's not uniform in every zone so where you're zoning if the residential zones have are not permitted the type of fencing that's permitted in the II you can't and put it in front of the you can't go beyond the front line of the house yeah right so that so that there are safeguards in place in uh in areas that are zoned for residential but this is not Zone residential so he I just wanted I asked all these questions because I didn't want to sound like I'm I'm 100% against you I just wanted to understand your perspective sure I have a perspective you each one of us have our own perspective B where we reside no I'm saying it because um obviously each case Rises and falls on its own Merit but you had mentioned well in another instance well the other instance may have been in a residential Zone where right so where they were had had greater limitations and what they were permitted yeah no I was listen I'm I'm here obviously I have to be here if I want to do this but I'm saying I'm here because I have to answer your questions right so whether I like it dislike it it doesn't matter I'm here to answer your questions I mean it's not if nothing's personal you want to get your answers and I need you to get your answers because if I don't give you the right answers then I might walk away unhappy so I I want to do whatever you need I'm going to give you whatever I can no I want to be happy all right done I have question for I think the our attorney um so there's a swimming pool here the construction code says the swimming pool needs a certain type of fence around it um that doesn't seem to be part of the plan so from what I understood in the uh the paperwork that I received in the email was that the fence that I'm encompassing around the entire yard so in other words the very back corner of the house the fence starts at and it goes all the way around and connects to the other corner so there's no openings in other words there's two gates but they won't be open so I was under the impression that as long as the pole Falls within that and there's no way to get to it without opening a gate and the gate has to open out towards the yard or straight it can't open in so yeah if you look at it there's actually no openings in the fence it'll completely Inc the whole yard well I mean no I'm I'm not sure that's what you're asking my question is though is this something that the zoning board has to worry about or is that a construction I think it's construction code at this point so we don't even have to okay okay I have based on what you just said that means that in order for you to exit your property you have to open a gate unless obviously if I go out my front yard now so the front of the house so that that's if you guys take a look at it I mean this little section here no no but if you look at the square that rectangles the house right so I can leave the front of the house and not be fenced in if I'm in the yard itself I either have to go back in through the side door or there's a 4ot fence right by the driveway which would allow me to get in and out and on the very end of the property there will be a 10 foot gate and the purpose of that is number one if I I ever needed to get on the property for something or if anyone needed to get on the property 10 foot should be wide enough for a a work trop yeah I assume your septic is in the back there so actually the septic is more in the middle of the yard so the septic will be it's I didn't place it on there but if you look at the one picture you see the giant tree in the middle septics on the other side of that but but that's one of the reasons why if you had a septic problem you well that's I need them to pump it every two years correct so there has to be a way for them to get to it corre and F G is it and where do you normally put your truck uh show us yeah sure so this area right here if you guys see where it says 30 feet down that's the end of the driveway so from here to here I can I can see through the thing you can okay from here to here is the driveway so my truck my car all that oh so that mean okay okay so there so your property is fully enclosed and therefore you can use your truck without having to and and your property remains 100% correct yeah I wouldn't be driving on the property for no reason okay owns station it's a county road right ask is is that fence too close or does the county have to say that because I've had problems with other things where they say you know you need enough to pull a truck off blah blah blah and I don't know if that fence is I'm not trying to harsh you but I don't know if that fence is too close to the right away well I usually what I put in the resolutions is that it's the approval subject to any you know County uh requirements and or outside agency approval so if you need to go to the county for that then you got to do that now would that have been part of the the notification letters though uh I think you it wasn't on there for the actually there was middle sex County but maybe that was it that's it okay middle sex County be careful about that run into yeah problem yeah no I mean so obviously again the company that I'm going to be using um there everything's going to be by the book before anything gets done we obviously go through the permits here but then of course you know the whole all right call before you dig and contact we're to follow everything by the book the last thing I want to do is have something put in then find out later on oh wait a second it's too close here it's too there no understood I appreciate it I mean I think On a related note as you can see in one of the photos there's also a fire hydrant yep and so I don't know did the did the fire department or I don't know who maybe the county I'm not even sure who takes so I believe I believe it or not I actually think it's an outside company who actually takes care of it because every so many months they come out I forget the name name of the company but they come out and they'll actually you know drain but it's not done through the township itself they might be paid by the township but it's like an outside company but again I could find out I know that again the where I have proposed is about four feet away from that um but I don't know if there's a specific requirement of course that says You must be seven feet seven inches off of a fire Hydra but again that's something that of course I'd want to find out because again the last thing I want to do is have to move a fence after spending all that money so those are all very valid points uh you mentioned water if there's a hydrant right in front of your property corre I assume that you're getting water from a utility yeah so we had it must be Monroe right it can't be cranberry we have American Water I don't you do have American war yeah so when Amazon came in they put a sewer on the street we're not allowed to tap into it which is why we still have a septic because the sewer was actually paid for by Amazon and they're not allowing anyone to use it because that's what we were told the water we were allowed to pay and tap into okay um but we still have the well on the property it's been capped off and you know Electric's cut in the house but so yeah we have American water so yeah as far as that like we sent them a letter we would have to contact I think there's 11 or 10 utility companies between cable vision jcpnl that all have something in the area that I obviously have to before we even dig would have to make sure that they're aware and it doesn't cross over anything oh so you're in so you're Jersey Central Power and Light okay because most of the cranber is on public service got you I'm just jcpnl okay and actually that's yeah they're yeah they're they're the ones with all the the lines y jcpnl okay so I I think it'll be useful to list all the relief that we're going to need and I think I got a list here uh it's going to be a D2 variance uh there's a front yard setback uh variance for actually two one for cranberry station or he St cranberry Station Road one for New Jersey Turnpike correct uh there is possibly a sidey setback is there a sidey yard here I'm sorry he I believe the applicant testified that he met the requirements but yes I think there is side would be the one uh I Think Neighbor okay got it all right so there is one for the one side that ad joins the neighbor I let me just still check the ordinates for second because if it's not a side yard it's a rear yard okay let me just all right so that's still up there yeah side rear yard possibly all right uh what about imp impervious coverage do we need anything uh he believe you testified that how much was in progress yeah so the house is 1100 square feet I would say the driveway is probably a little bit less than that but we'll say 11 that's 22 15 x 15 is 225 18t round pole brings up to 475 total so we're talking 2675 and it has to be under 6,900 I believe to be within the 40% so I'm well within that okay but most likely your driveway is gravel so actually we have paved and then we actually extended it many years ago so there's the other half of it is gravel which doesn't count no correct I'm sure you know Roy Reinhardt I used to work for him and so he he helped me we laid that in there okay so that's why I can fix seven cars now versus two all right so we don't need that uh we do need a fence design waiver I believe it sounds like yes so sorry um yes I think around the pool um the we said that it our our ordinance says it shouldn't exceed five feet and it it is they're proposing it's the same fence it's that we've been talking about so because he's would like to combine it the fencing um the rear yard fencing and with um a fencer on the pool so it's I think it varies in height from six to eight feet maybe what you're proposing correct yes now real quick when you say pool fencing I also want to know because I've also seen the above ground pools that have another metal fence on the actual uh base if you know what I'm talking about so let's say the pool's 54 inch tall then another 48 inches there's like a little metal fence yeah we don't want to do that if we don't have to because we're no no no I'm saying I just want to know what we're talking about the same thing but if that was a requirement obviously you know if that's what you're referring to I'm much sure that would be again construction gotcha gotcha that would be construction but sorry it is a sidey yard next to a triangle lot like this yep that is a sidey yard that's that's between him and his his res and it's in is it in conformance or no so we're 22 feet off of my neighbor's property line so that's actually it's a natural non-conformance but where the pool and deck will be or another 50 ft on the other side so the Ping deck will be approximately 70t off the sidey they will be in conformance right but but do we do we need a variance for the side guard is my question because it's an existing it's an existing condition and it's not being made any worse by this application then you it's just you just note that it's a pre-existing condition okay yeah so it's not you don't need a variance again all right good all right all right but um wait we do need to look into the the fence design the height you know is an 8 foot solid fence is it solid or so this would be a solid fence the whole fence whether it's 8 foot or six foot is a solid white dog foot fence right so we need to know if that these variants or not right they'd be design waivers rather than VAR I'm sorry that's fine so um yes I think let me just see that there would be for the pool um um and then I think we talked about that it if faces a public road it should be set back at least five feet from the property line and the proposed fencing is one foot from the property line along the turnpike as he was saying because there's and so um and then um then with regard to the fencing along um Station Road it would be8 feet 100% solid and um and because it's in a front yard you can't have that you can't have that so so variances for all those right they're design design just have one question when you run that fence in parallel with a Turnpike how far away are you going to be from the existing bushes that are closest to your property so the B the bushes are on the other side of the fence so it won't be the idea is to put this new fence as close to the existing fence as possible the reason being so I don't have to go in between fences and try to re well no the reason why is because you if if New Jersey Turnpike wants to somehow trim or get in there it's there's the entrance so that picture you had so we're not actually going all the way down my property goes down another 80 feet after where we're stopping the fence behind where we're stopping the fence there's going to be room for the turnpike to actually access their right ofwe gate but will they be able to get between your and and the bushes so they it'll be behind their fence yes sir so so they can get in there and do any trimming correct my fence won't be impacting anything on their end okay so so your fence will not impact turnpikes maintenance ability correct for those bushes no abolutely because I'm concerned that if suddenly it is and suddenly these bushes are going to grow and they're going to be taller than your fence no yeah no that when that's the whole point though because so essentially if this is their fence right here the fence currently on the property which is on my proper line we want to get as close to that all the way at the other end there's a gate where they open up and they go behind their fence and do all the weed whacking ideally those bushes would never come onto my side the only reason they do is because when they only do it once a year they stick through the fence but whenever they mow or weed whack or anything they all the access is on their side nothing nothing would be on mine okay no no that's good question it's hard I wish I wish I had like a video to show because it's hard to explain sometimes but if you want afterwards hop in we'll take a ride I'll car I'm a big guy carry you hope your fot gets better and actually I should say the fence along the turnpike also I was keep thinking of that as a rear yard but it's not right so the fence on there is is also a front yard there's two front yards and a side yard yeah exactly okay any other questions from the board anyone from the public all right so uh you let's discuss this I think uh and this is a unique property um it to me it seems like there's some definite hardships um you know my feeling is this is a reasonable request or set of requests I should say to to do this that's my personal feeling does anyone else want to say anything I just agree and I think that's a substantial investment in a property that's difficult to make usable for a family so I appreciate that no I mean like I said no no BS I mean we want to stay here you know obviously I would love to live in uh a different part of town but like I said the opportunities and how long my family's been here I mean my mom worked at Teddy's for 25 years I'm sure someone in the room knows my mom Donna there someone has to know her course but I used to live on top of tedy's when I first when we when we first lived here when I was a kid so the way I look at it as is the history as well right so the history of the township you know my wife is the one who wants to move and I basically explained to her we have a 2.4% interest rate we're not moving but aside from that what I told her is the Investments we make in the property is what can possibly help us one day in the future as well so it's kind of like a you know we do what we have to do now and then maybe down the road we we go from there but no it is it's very substantial but I think it's worth it you know you have to take the hands you're dealt and I think overall I wasn't dealt that bad of a hand I just have to look at the positives one thing you might also consider is let's just say all of the neighboring properties were accumulated assembled to do something that is in conformance with the zoning I think even this even if that were the case this portion of the parcel would be so difficult to develop for a permitted use Y which they actually just an example when the turnpike expanded tennis years ago give or take they we actually used to the fence you see there sir used to be another 60 feet behind that of trees 40 feet tall to the turnpike you couldn't even see the turnpike they got rid of all those trees backed it up to within 20t of the property they initially told my grandparents at the time they were going to buy the house because there was no sense keeping it then they realize that they don't need it and doesn't affect them if we have to live that close to it so to your point yeah I don't think anyone's everever going to be able to do anything there's a pipeline underneath so you couldn't pave it and make a you know parking lot so that's another reason why make the best of it you know what I mean so okay one other question you did not talk to the primary fire department at all yeah that was not on any of my uh my paperwork too I don't have an issue talking to I mean just that wasn't part of what I was instructed that I needed to I I I think it's a good idea just just I mean access to the Turn Pike I I don't know what they might so so so that's a good point so just so you know the access I don't think the fire department's ever because you obviously can't get a truck through there because of the wall but we're not covering up the gate for the access to turn bike so where our fence ends the access gate is approximately 60 feet behind that now that's still my property but I chose not to go back for two reasons number one if I went back any further I would have to put in a 12 foot gate so the turnpike could get through with their equipment to get to their fence to me that wouldn't be worth it plus their part is so narrow it to me the extra money so there the access to that gate to get on the turnpike is still there okay what I'm just out of curiosity where's the pipeline exactly so uh basically where the fence currently is go about 12 to 15 feet off of the fence the pipeline runs from there to Houston Texas I mean uh it's underground it's under but it's it's so is it it's a side of the existing short fence yes it's on my property so that's their easement they have the easement and they we agreed to 10 feet on either side so in other words the fence the only part where the fence actually crosses over that is at the very end where we meet okay and as long as we don't put the um the post over top of the three-inch pipeline that doesn't matter because he basically said the only time you would they would ever need to come onto the property for a re like mer would be they're going to take the fence down anyway whether it's there or not and at that point they would be responsible for fixing it because it's an emergency but once I enclose it in they're only required once a year to mow along the um the pipeline which they only do once a year so by enclosing in that's just my way of telling them I don't want you to mow it so that's kind of how the agreement works that I'm telling them that you don't ever need to come on my property unless it's an emergency they're saying cool one less thing for us to work on that's kind of how it was stated all right any other comments so we do a motion to approve I make a motion to vote on the U proposed uh whatever you want to call it proy application second great all right so that motion and this vote is going to be for all the variances that Mr Diamond had mentioned roll call Mr Diamond yes Mr Callen Mr McGovern yes Miss Parker yes Mr Schwarz yes and Miss Gins yes thank you did someone second that yes um yes I'm sorry who was Mr Schwarz oh sorry okay congratulations well I wanted to save that for the end but just to the point yeah well the problem is I'm a talker too so someone doesn't tell me to shut up I'll keep going believe y sure and I I actually want to say that we I attempted to do this back in 2017 and I was so overwhelmed by the process and frustrated that I didn't do it because I was like this is insane the paperwork and then after many years and now two kids I realized that all right we don't have a choice anymore the process was a nightmare I understand it is what it is but you know I'm obviously glad I went through but yeah it's very very very thorough I mean Robin was wonderful but the the process of okay we need this we need this we need to have it like this and I was just like I don't have much hair but ripping out what little hair I had so my only question is obviously I understand this is the beginning there's still other things I know things have to be written up but when we referred to the um not the variances themselves but when you referred to like um yes is that separate or was that okay that's what I was cu your approval included all the design waivers and variances gotcha okay so I guess my only question is what's the next uh step yeah we'll try to get it done for the next meeting resolution of approval memorializing the decision okay and obviously at that point that's when I would be able to then start the process with the company to say hey let's go to the construction get the permits and all that right okay now that's all I wanted to know awesome motion to adjourn second say I right thank you everybody I appreciate it have a great night